Arsenal fail to score again after 0-0 bore draw at Stoke

Arsenal appear to still be missing Robin van Persie as they failed to score for a second successive game after drawing 0-0 with Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.

A frustrated Arsene Wenger looks on as Arsenal struggle to break Stoke down (Picture: Action Images)

On a weekend when Van Persie scored a stunning debut goal for Manchester United, Arsenal once again failed to get on the score-sheet and are yet to find the back of the net this season.

When Lukas Podolski failed to make any real impact it was down to Santi Cazorla to try and inspire some attacking flair from the Gunners.

And while the away side dominated the game having 16 shots, only six on target, and winning a corner count 12-0, he was unable to test Asmir Begovic in goal for Stoke.

Santi Cazorla hangs his side after failing to find the back of the net for a second consecutive match (Picture: Reuters)

Theo Walcott was left out of the starting line-up, possibly because of his on-going contract negotiations, and had to be introduced with 20 minutes to go for Gervinho, who was almost non-existent throughout.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was also included late on by Arsene Wenger for a disappointing Podolski as the Gunners pushed for a goal.

What Arsenal lacked up front was matched by Stoke, who were unable to get through a much stronger looking defence from Arsenal under new assistant manager Steve Bould.

Jonathan Walters celebrates his goal, which was later rightly disallowed for offside (Picture: PA)

The Potters did have a goal disallowed with seven minutes played when Jonathan Walters was rightly judged offside from a Peter Crouch flick on.

Arsenal had a very soft shout for a penalty when a stumbling Andy Wilkinson blocked a goal-bound Podolski effort with his arm.

The Stoke defender’s body was blocking the view of referee Lee Mason and it would have been very harsh on Wilkinson.

Both teams pushed for a winner towards the end but neither side found the creativity to carve an opening in the final third in a game that lacked any real quality.

An optimistic Olivier Giroud long range lob was the closest Arsenal came in the dying moments but once again that was off target.

Arsenal also failed to score in the first two games of last season, but at least Gunners fans can celebrate that their team is yet to concede a goal.